Always Pleasantly Surprised

Bunny's Carrots & Snaps

Dishes that are fast and easy to put on the table are so exciting. You can pull them together in a pinch, and sometimes with very few ingredients. Exciting! Whenever a new cookbook comes this way, one of the first things that comes to mind is ‘What’s the easiest thing to make out of here?’ Isn’t that what a lot of people think? Maybe not. Maybe you guys are looking for the hardest thing to recreate. If you can do it without crying, that’s a sure sign of a comprehensive and easy to understand manual. Well, good for you! We want the easy ones, especially easy ones that shock you with tasty simplicity. Here’s one that you will definitely enjoy.

The folks at Samantha Slaven Publicity sent over a copy of The Crabby Cook Cookbook written by Jessica Harper. Apparently, she’s the kind of cook who may seem like somebody else you know. Maybe several somebodies. She’s may have burnt a few things in her life, and multitasking is not easy to do with a recipe, but she’ll still cook for her family and friends. Sometimes begrudgingly. It’s an amusing standpoint for a cookbook, so that is entertaining in itself.

The recipe that stood out as an immediate must-make was a lemon-laced, mint-flecked saute of crisp carrots and sugar snap peas. Sweet vegetables made even sweeter with just a few ingredients that are usually on hand. We have never combined the four of those ingredients in any way, and the lemon and mint sounded spectacular. So spectacular, that the original recipe has been amended below with extra helpings of both. There is also an extra clove of garlic and olive oil takes the stage instead of butter. Of course, this is a very easy recipe to replicate and change on your own. It’s a side dish you’ll have out of the pan and onto a platter in less than 10 minutes, and that is something you can’t pass up.

Whenever I get a new cookbook I definitely look for both the easiest recipe and the one for which I have all the ingredients on hand. Mostly because I’m usually so inspired that I want food and I want it NOW. I’m kind of feeling that way right this minute after seeing this. Looks delicious!

I also look for the easiest recipes when I get a new cookbook – I guess it’s good to have some reassurance from doing a simple recipe before you invest time in something long & complicated. As for this recipe here, it looks like a winner all ’round. You really can’t argue with something that simple and that tasty and, hey, with the colours you’ve got going on there, it looks Irish too!